Cambridge Evening News – Cambridge, England, UK
By John Morgan
A CAMBRIDGESHIRE tearoom has been acclaimed as the nation’s finest.
Peacocks Tearoom has been named as the UK’s Top Tea Place by the Tea Guild, joining the distinguished Dorchester – which won the Top London Afternoon Tea award – in the elite of providing the best British cuppas.
The Ely business won praise for an array of brews that takes in everything from Parisian vanilla blends to honest builder’s tea.
For owners George Peacock and Rachel Lemkov, the prize completes an astonishing rise since they opened the tearoom – with no previous experience of the business – on Ely’s Waterside in 2004. Rachel thinks undercover inspectors from the Tea Guild, part of the UK Tea Council, were impressed by the range of blends, the homemade cakes and the atmosphere.
She said: “We’re absolutely thrilled. We’re saying we’re twinned with The Dorchester! We wanted to make it like walking into your granny’s parlour, like walking into someone’s home and getting homemade food.”
Rachel bakes all the cakes and took a crash course in cookery after giving up her job as an antiques dealer – with partner George leaving his job as a solicitor – to go into the tearoom business.
As for the brews themselves, she believes the secret is in tailoring the tea to the taster. She said: “Good tea is about having it how you like it. We have a device in every pot that allows people to take the tea out and stop it brewing when they like.”
I went for the Pleine Lune, sourced from a Paris tearoom and described as a combination of almonds, vanilla and honey.
I normally have a passionate dislike for tea, but the Pleine Lune was a world away from the usual teabag fare and tasted great.
Photographer Alex Weatherill chose the Chocolate Imperial, a blend of chocolate and burnt caramel- flavoured leaves that smelt like a good pudding.
The menu, offering more than 50 different types of tea, takes in everything from Nilgri, a blend from the Blue Mountains of south west India, to Yorkshire tea and builder’s tea, a special treat for those who like to give an extra spoonful of leaves “for the pot”.
The pair travel as far as Berlin and Venice to source their tea, and regular customer Di Kingshott feels that sort of dedication pays off.
She said: “It is a wonderful place. It is the best for tea because there are so many choices. I enjoy the green teas and the Oolong – I’m not a PG Tips sort of person!”
